IAH runway expansion has neighbors fretting over moving

Living in the way of the runwayIAH has plans to grow, and that has neighbors concerned

RENÉE C. LEE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
May 13, 2009

Gayle Seale has lived in the Glen Lee subdivision near ﻿Bush Intercontinental Airport for 25 years. She said if they’re forced to sell their properties to make way for the airport, they won’t have retirement money. ﻿

Photo By Billy Smith II/Chronicle

Gayle Seale and her husband, Paul Kennedy, have lived in the blue-collar neighborhood for 25 years and own 15 rental properties in the subdivision.

McFarland and her husband, James, 78, have lived on Buckow, a block-long street lined with one-story frame houses, for 41 years. They raised five children — four boys and a girl — in their three-bedroom home and had planned to stay there through their retirement years.

Now, they and many other residents who live southeast of the airport are living in limbo until the Federal Aviation Administration decides if and where to add one or two runways at the airport.

“What are we going to do? Where are we going to live?” said McFarland, sitting in her living room. “There’s a lot of stress in it because you don’t know.”

FAA officials are reviewing a proposal to add the runways to increase airfield capacity. They’re looking at east-west runways on either the north or the south side of the airport. The latter location would require buying nearby land, which includes Buckow Street and the Glen Lee Place and Heather Ridge Village subdivisions off Lee Road.

Proposed alternatives include altering runway use or constructing taxiways to improve traffic flow. The changes are needed to reduce the unacceptable level of delays in takeoffs and landing, said federal officials. The proposals were outlined in a master plan completed by the Houston Airport System in 2006.

More than 350 residents attended a public meeting Tuesday at the Humble Civic Center to learn more about the proposed projects. FAA officials gave a slide presentation and collected written comments as part of the initial stage of the agency’s environment impact study. Another meeting is scheduled for today.

“We want to know what everybody’s problems are so we don’t miss them in the analysis,” said Paul Blackford, an FAA environmental protection specialist. “The important thing now is we are just starting the process, and we don’t know what will happen. We don’t have answers yet.”

Houston Airport System officials declined to comment on the proposals.

Lives on hold

Federal officials will examine the impact of all the proposed changes before determining the best solution and provide funding for the project, Blackford said. The final decision won’t come for at least 30 months, he said.

For Glen Lee resident Gayle Seale, that’s too long, especially when her livelihood is at stake. She and her husband, Paul Kennedy, have lived in the blue-collar neighborhood for 25 years and own 15 rental properties in the subdivision. The couple owns a trucking company and rely on income from the rental properties. If they’re forced to sell their properties, they won’t have any retirement money, said Seale, who attended Tuesday’s meeting.

“I would love to put a swimming pool in my backyard for my children, but I don’t want to invest in it if I have to sell,” Seale said. “I feel like my life is on hold.”

Many residents are concerned about plummeting property values and say homes have not been selling because of ongoing speculation that the city of Houston plans to buy the land for the airport. They also worry that they might not get a fair price for their home if they do have to sell.

He said he bought the house 14 years ago as a foreclosed property and believes he’ll come out OK if he has to sell it to the city, but others might not be so fortunate with property values down because of the economy, he said.

Noise and pollution

Residents in the Timberwood subdivision, just east of U.S. 59 off Rankin Road, are also worried about the runways on the airport’s south side but for different reasons: noise and pollution. The neighborhood sits in the path of the proposed runways.

Darrell Wayne said he hears planes about two to three times a week flying over his house. The planes are more frequent during holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, he said. He expects the air traffic will increase over his neighborhood if the FAA decides to add the runways on the airport’s south side.

The extra pollution from the planes will likely affect his asthma and emphysema conditions, he said.

The last time the airport opened a new runway was in 2003. About 1,700 acres were purchased and 400 deer and wildlife were relocated.